Pot really is one of the most innocuous substances that exist. In my state the law is extremely lenient; you may recall our last governor Gary Johnson got some national attention on this issue.

Marijuana is almost the opposite of alcohol in several respects: two I can think of right offhand are driving (makes you much more cautious) and also fighting (people's urge to fight with each other decreases).

The only problem with pot IS that gateway thing and I agree with the poster who wrote earlier that this would be solved if it were legalized, because it only leads to more dangerous drugs - as he said - because kids think they have been lied to about the others as they were about pot.